Graduate Student Seminar Series – Tenzin Yangzom

Graduate Student Seminar Series
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Location: TRI-UC (KITE) Basement Auditorium, 550 University Avenue
Presentation Title: Development of novel wearable device for remote blood flow monitoring
Abstract: Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are estimated to be responsible for 31% of all worldwide deaths. Endothelial Dysfunction (ED) is one of the earliest markers in most CVDs. Despite its significant prognostic value, endothelial dysfunction has been difficult to implement clinically and non-invasively. The current ‘Gold Standard’ ED assessment method is Coronary Angiogram but is invasive and exposes patients to significant risk. Separately, Laser Doppler Flowmetry (LDF) device has been developed which measures skin blood flow in response to heat as an indicator of endothelial function. However, these clinical tools for ED assessment are only accessible at the point-of-care and in the presence of trained specialists. There are currently no low-cost, practical methods for monitoring blood flow, continuously or intermittently. Remote monitoring of skin blood flow can provide key information on progression of various disease types, but more importantly can serve as a cardiovascular risk stratification tool to aid in CVD screening, management, and outcomes. The objective of this research project is to demonstrate a novel, wearable device that non-invasively measures blood flow through multi-wavelength photoplethysmography technology and a newly developed algorithm for deriving the arteriolar Pulse transit time (aPTT) to serve as the skin blood flow metric, during controlled heating. We have established a strong correlation of our derived skin blood flow metric to the referenced LDF measurements for different body locations at baseline. This work demonstrates validation of our device and the aPTT metric as a surrogate for skin blood flow measurement. Once deployed, our device will enable clinicians to remotely assess endothelial function, assess risk, and intervene before devastating clinical events such as heart failure, stroke and other cardiovascular diseases. Other use cases of remote skin blow flow assessment include post-surgery monitoring, wound healing assessment and prescribed treatment validation.
Supervisor Name: Daniel Franklin
Year of Study: 2
Program of Study: PhD
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